Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School - Collegiate Yearbook (Sarnia, Ontario Canada)

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.,, . fu so to register. There followed a busy hour for the delegates, at the end of which they found themselves provided with badges and programmes and reg- istered in that discussion group which most appealed to each one. At ten o'clock Principal Malcom Wallace of University College formally opened the convention, and a welcome was ex- tended to the delegates by Miss Evan- geline Powell, convention convenor. Helpful and instructive speeches fol- lowed by Miss Jean I-Iunnisett, past secretary, Mr. W. Dunlop, director of University Extension and Mr. Ver- non Knowles, city editor of the Mail and Empire. After the election of a president and secretary from the ranks of the representatives, an address was heard on staff organization and allo- cation by Mr. Andrew Allen, editor of the flatej Varsity,', one of whose re- cent editorials stirred the whole pro- vince, followed by a discourse on hum- our by Mr. Gregory Clarke of the Toronto Star. After adjournment at noon, the delegates gathered for a panoramic picture on the steps of Con- vocation Hall. The afternoon session opened with a talk on The problem of lay-out by Mr. Frank Sperry of MacLean,s Maga- zine. The delegates then divided into groups for discussions on varied prob- lems. Ar the close of the session they were shown through the publishing houses of MacLean,s and the Toronto Star. In the evening the spacious and beautiful banquet-hall of the Arts and Letters Club made an artistic setting for the annual banquet. At its con- clusion the Staris shield for the best school magazine was presented to the London Central Collegiate, and the evening closed with a delightful, but all too short half-hour of readings and reminiscences by Dr. Charles G. D. Roberts. Saturday morning opened with a particularly interesting address on arf by Mr. Arthur Lismerg there followed speeches by Professor D. Robbins, Dr. E. A. Hardy, and Mr. Clarke Locke. The session closed with the THE COLLEGIATE presentation of a set of works of G. B. Shaw to the writer of the best short story in any of the magazines. The convention closed at noon on Saturday, and in the afternoon the delegates brought their activities to a conclusion by attending a rugby game at Varsity Stadium, where they re- newed their acquaintances with former schoolmates attending the University. N.G.N. ACADEMIC STUDIES VERSUS STUDENT ACTIVITIES Have you ever heard parents or outsiders comment on the so-called student activities of our school? Have you ever heard them speak with much concern, not unmingled with doubt and certain misgivings, of the increas- ingly important place that these act- ivities take in the lives of the students? Some, even outwardly condemn all the institutions of our school other than the fundamental subjects outlined in the curriculum. To these we would address the following remarks, in which we will attempt to allay at least a few of these misunderstandings. 'For those who criticise the non-academical side of our school life have been either most grossly misinformed or have not taken time to investigate their true purpose and value and are censuring us with but a very superficial know- ledge of these things. The fundamental purpose of a sec- ondary education is not to drill into our heads Latin, History, or algebra, nor to cram our brains with facts about electrons, or the action of sulphuric acid on sodium bicarbonate. True, these are all necessary but only in so far as they develop gray matter in our brain. Of what practical use are the majority of subjects that we take in the lower forms? Each of us will probably specialize in two or three of these later, and these will likely be the only ones of any real consequence in our future occupation. If our high school training were nothing more than learning by memory a few theor-

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'HT THE COLLEGIATE -: fl Q, l REORGANIZATION In appointing the mafvazine staff for the year 1931 Collegiate , the Liter- ary Society Executive showed its initi- ative by making a number of innovat- ions in the distribution and allocation of the various sections. It is to be hoped that this action, to some extent an experiment, will result in some measure of success. On account of the large increase in late years of the number of student activities, it was considered advisable in producing this issue of the Colleg- iatei' to apportion the writing up of student activities among a larger num- ber of students than in former years. Those best fitted by their reportorial ability and familiarity with the sphere of activities concerned, were chosen to write them up under separate head- ings. It is believed that this distri- bution of the worlc will yield better results than have been possible in other years. i Another feature of our reorganizat- ion plan is the creation of a new office on the magazine staff, that of Junior Representative. It is the duty of this member of the staff to stimulate an interest in the magazine in the forms Of the Lower School, which has hither- to been greatly lacking. The results this year have been only fairly satis- factory, but it is hoped that another year will find the junior students alive to their responsibilities in regard to the magazine. If they are to be favoured with definite representation on the staff, they must show their appreciation by standing behind their representative and contributing material in greater quantities than has been the case up to this time. The final part of the reorganization is the recognition of the work done by the girls of the typing class in com- piling the magazine. In previous is- sues, no credit was given for their very valuable help in typing out all material for the magazine. This year, however, five students have been selected to do all the typing, the names of these five have been included in the business staff personnel. W.D.T. THE EDITORS' CONVENTION On the morning of Friday, October the twenty-fourth, 1930, the Fifth An- nual Convention of High School Ed- itors opened at Convocation Hall, Tor- onto University. The Convention was conducted by the Department of Uni- versity Extension, and Sigma Phi Wo- men's journalistic Fraternity. The sponsors may well be justified in considering the convention a suc- cess, for the interest of editors in it becomes annually more evident. The advice offered by the speakers and by leaders of the discussion groups, was a source of great and invaluable help to the delegates of every magazine rep- resented, but in even greater a degree was it a source of the enthusiasm which is so necessary to the preparation of a school year-book. The publications represented at the convention will un- doubtedly be improved enormously this year by the suggestions offered. Registration began on Friday morn- ing at nine oicloclc, the Sarnia rep- resentatives incidentally being the first

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T MT TI-TE CTSLLLEGIATE ems in geometry, a few solutions in algebra, something about history, a very limited knowledge of foreign languages, we could give ourselves a very liberal education at home. But the real value of a secondary educat- ion lies in the amount of thought the student puts into his work, and the real object of such a training is to teach us to think and reason clearly and with decision and to develop in us a taste for the higher arts. The Student Activities in our school are, as you will see in other sections of this magazine, many and varied. They can be divided into two main groups. flj Sports, such as rugby, track and field, basketball, swimming, shooting, etc. KZ, Literary Societies which sponsor the production of plays, mus- ical festivals, exhibitions of gymnastic work, debates, oratory and the pub- lishing of this magazine. First let us try to justify the exist- ence of the first class named above- Sport. It is a well known fact that, if the brain is to function to its fullest capacity, the body must be in a healthy condition. It is equally well known that, in these days when schools are so near at hand, the average student does not exercise his body enough in going to and from school to keep all his muscles taut and his lungs clear. It is therefore necessary to participate in games which exercise the body suffic- iently to keep every organ in proper working order. This is no new theory, for our greatest universities have, in recent years, made it necessary for students, before being granted a dip- loma, to attain a certain proficiency in gym work. And the benefits derived from an active participation in sports, are not only physical but mental and moral. The players are taught, in the heat of a close match when everyone's nerves are tense with excitement, to display a self control which is not found in the crowd of those who watch. And, when the ball is snapped out the player must think quickly and act with decision. There is no place on a rugby team, or any other kind of team, for one who , Q' is slow to get the meaning of the sig- nals or who cannot calculate the rate at which an opponent is travelling, or the distance of a forward pass. In any team participating in any sport, there is a sense of loyalty to the team, to the members of the team, and a certain sense of honour in good sports- manship, that is unexcelled. And in any group of young men would you expect to find the best among those who look on and cheer the winning team to victory and hurl their taunts at the losers, or among those who are on the campus playing the game? The mental and moral benefits de- rived from sport are limited, but the second group named above-the Liter- ary Societies-have as their funda- mental purpose our development along these lines. This group is then the more beneficial, intellectually, of the two. Shakespeare wrote The man that hath no music in himself. nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoilsn. The verity of this state- ment has never been challenged and certainly music is the most beautiful way of expressing beautiful thoughts. We who attend the S.C.I. 66 T.S. are not allowed to let our appreciation of good music become rusty, for each morning we are favoured by two sel- ections from the school orchestra. And our thanks are here extended to Mr. Brush and the members of the orch- estra for thus giving each day a bright beginning. But we of the S.C.I. 86 T.S. are forgetting that there are two kinds of music-instrumental and vocal. We have an orchestra, and an excellent one too, but where is our Glee Club? There must be vocal talent in the school. And we do not lack a leader. Mr. Asbury has attain- ments in this line that are surpassed by very few. A Glee Club we feel, is as necessary as the Literary Societies themselves. But as the name Literary Societies suggests, these organizations, the Sen- ior and Junior Literary Societies, are not only to encourage an appreciation of music but also of good literature,